PODCAST

March 13th, 2011

When assigned to memorize a chapter from Scripture, no one chooses Psalm 119. This 176-verse, 5-page monstrosity is too heavy for the memory to lift. It took fewer verses for God to create the world, give the Law, and deliver the Sermon on the Mount. If forced to memorize a whole chapter, we choose the next door neighbor, Psalm 117, with a measly 2 verses.

But length alone is not the weight of this text. Remember the song by the jilted lover who is getting ready to dump the jerk? She suggests 50 ways to leave your lover. And have you ever noticed how many times and ways there are to say one simple thing–I love you? This is called repetition, saying the same thing over and over and over.

Now you’re getting Psalm 119. It is 176 ways to say the same thing–that the law of God is a good gift to follow enthusiastically all the way to freedom.